Monday, March 9, 2015

Perception - How Do We See Ourselves?

Perception is an intriguing concept. We all come from different backgrounds, different genetics and experiences unique to no one but ourselves. I come in contact, like everyone else, with different personalities, different ways of seeing the world and I sometimes wonder what makes them tick (when I can't figure them out). I can admire others based on what I see in them for their positive traits.

Nice pic - I'd be shitting bricks personally. We've all been in situations where we encounter obstacles, roadblocks and wonder how we can overcome. By adopting a positive attitude where you seek to grow and learn, we can use challenges to develop, face fears and work a solution.

Very interesting quote. I know people who I feel are bogged down in the details, people who exhibit a high level of self-importance, people with trust issues and insecurities as well as people who are eternally optimistic, sees the good in others and generally are genuine and sincere. My point is - am I seeing these people as they are or is it my perception of them based on my beliefs and life experiences? I don't know the answer. I'm sure there are people that view me in a different light than I view myself.

It's not just people. Events shape us. I make no secret of the fact that doing 4 Ironmans in the past 2 years was, for me, a mistake. I went into each of those events with a thought in my head that I needed to "conserve" for the next one thereby holding back in training while still over-fatigued, anxiety about the grand-scale effort and making it all work. I found myself unsatisfied and unsure whether I enjoyed it anymore. I vowed to get rested and focus more on the fun and why I love multisport so much.

Again I would shit bricks! Maybe he is smiling though...

Are you reading the message?! Huh?!

Narcissism. Everyone knows someone that they would consider narcissistic. We are all probably narcissistic in some way. The true narcissists, in my opinion, tend to think that everything they do is great, everything they endorse is the best, challenges they overcome "have never been done before" but due to their unique talents were able to come out victorious. If they come up short the narcissist focuses on environmental factors - not something they did.

I believe the best of the best in sport are narcissistic. In fact, in most cases, they have the unwavering belief that they have no equal. There are exceptions - the athletic elite who are confident without arrogance and respect their counterparts. Examples could be Federer and Nadal in tennis, Whitfield and Alexander in triathlon. In some cases, however, it is a negative. An example would be people you go training with that compete during every workout. Going for a social long ride ends up with very little communication and a ton of half-wheeling. Half-wheeling is the term which describes when one person attempts to ride side by side with another but one person has be "just a little ahead of the other." We all have come into contact with these kind of people. I'm all for training hard but I'm equally interested in the social side of the sport where I can spend hours chatting away about life and having a good laugh. It makes the time pass by.

Pessimism/Optimism. This is the glass half empty, half full group. For myself I tend to see myself as more of a half full kind of guy. It does not mean that I don't exhibit pessimistic behaviour. Sometimes when things go wrong or I'm fatigued, pessimistic thoughts can creep in. The key for me is awareness. I try to be aware of how I'm feeling and maintain a proper perspective of most situations despite how difficult they can be. For the most part I've always believed "things will work out." I'm finding that my mindset is returning to the way of thinking from pre-2013 and that's a good thing. It does guarantee that I will be successful in my racing but it does guarantee that I will enjoy the process a hell of a lot more!

Seeing more of this thankfully!!!

Sara and I got out for a 12k run together in the country on Saturday - it was peaceful and enjoyable and it went by quickly as we talked pretty much the whole way. Perfect!

We stopped to say hi to the horses.

On Sunday I had a 2.5 hour trainer ride to complete. I managed 2:20 which I was happy with then got in some strengthening - another good training day. If you're looking for good Ironman videos and other vintage tri race videos go to 156JTS on Youtube - he's got every Hawaii Ironman from 1986 to 2013 in a playlist. Check out some of his others, especially the sprint series from the early 90s in Australia - it's amazing and you will not notice the time.

Anyway, I hope, with this post, you will have some food for thought (optimism). I know that you will be better for it given that I provided the information! (narcissism). You are certainly all better for knowing me! (ok, enough with the narcissism Rob!!)

Note: This post reflects observations from my travels - it DOES NOT reflect my friends and family so don't go speculating! Got it?!